A conversation from World Dairy Expo and the recent Town Hall conversation from the U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance heads up the list at DairyCast.com this week.

Forage is always in focus at World Dairy Expo and our congratulations to Kelli Hinman of Wheatland, WY, named Grand Champion Forage exhibitor. We spent some time with agronomist Jon Erickson discussing growing conditions this year and harvest yield comments. Link to more information on the World Forage Analysis Superbowl Winners.

A unique group of producers, consumer advocates, retailers and processors connected at the U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance Food Dialogues Town Hall meeting recently. The multi-venue program allowed for insights from the panel as well as attending guests and questions from the audience. You'll want to view the full proceedings here.
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The U.S. Farmer & Rancher Alliance worked to reach across the aisle with the recent 'Food Dialogues Town Hall Meeting'. The nation wide conversation featured four locations and top agrimarketers, retailers and consumer advocates. Today we share a few comments from the opening session in Washington, D.C.

Charlie Arnot, The Center for Food Integrity, provides an overview of the Food System Summit program October 25-26, 2011 in Chicago. Dr. Jason Clay, Senior Vice President, Market Transformations with the World Wildlife Fund, will present a keynote address during the Summit; Jim Moseley, Co-Chair, AGree Transforming Food & Ag Policy, will be the featured speaker; and Joe Quinn, Senior Director, Issue Management and Strategic Outreach for Walmart Corporate Affairs, will provide the closing keynote address.

This conversation with Mycogen Seeds customer agronomist Jon Erickson overviews comments from World Dairy Expo, outcomes from the forage contest and takes in production issues across the growing region.

A recent DairyCast episode featured USDA/ARS research on the use of tannin to stymie bacteria growth and gas emissions. Dr. Terry Whitehead, microbiologist, reports good success in cutting odor issues in lagoons.
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USDA Agricultural Research Service microbiologist Terry Whitehead is using tannins to cut back manure sourced emissions in his research. His thought process stems from his ruminant background and the impact eating leaves has on digestion.

Forage / hay quality and availability is tight this year. Many operations are facing tough decisions on acquiring feed options. If you are faced with using lower quality forage or hay, this post will help in identifying the quality and storage options for fall and winter.

The quality of the hay will vary greatly, depending on the time of year, maturity and weather conditions when the hay was made in addition to how it is stored. While we encourage forage testing as the only real way of knowing the feed value of your hay, very few farmers are following through with this practice.